Everyone's Talking about Rebel Spirit

Your new errand companion podcast is hot and fresh out the oven.

Every time I start to write this essay it’s difficult—probably because it’s hard to put into words everything that’s happened over the past year in trying to change my high school’s racist mascot from The Rebels (a shameful nod to the failed confederacy) to The Biscuits (a hot, southern icon we all love).

Episodes 1&2 are out now (subscribe, listen, and if so inclined, leave a review!), and we’ve laid the groundwork for the season. Every week, my producers Elizabeth Baquet and Dan Sinker and I meet to discuss the project, and every week we have a new favorite episode.

Episode 1 really gives you my lore. I’m from the south—Kentucky specifically. My mom kept the accent, somehow I lost mine (you get to hear her dulcet tones as she recounts growing up in the area).

This is my mom, Marilynn Arnold, in high school. 10/10 fro.

You learn about the town, the high school, and hear from alumni and current students about what it’s like at Boone County High School. But more than that, you get the message quickly that something needs to change. And while that is absolutely true about my hometown of Florence, KY, it’s true about small towns across this country that feel left behind. No wonder so many still cling to hatred and lies when there’s very little else to rally behind. A new mascot is an opportunity.

Episode 2: History Lessons, this week’s episode, focuses on this ridiculously flimsy lie that the school and school board have continuously floated about the origin of the Rebels namesake. I just know James Dean is rolling in his grave because there’s no way “Rebel Without a Cause” a movie about emotionally confused, gay teens was the inspiration for this:

…is it crack? is that what they’re on?

James Dean where?

James Dean’s high school pic, for reference…I’m thorough, what can I say?

And even before this bloated, offensive abomination became the mascot, a quick trip to the library local history section—specifically the decades of yearbooks from BCHS—reveals that within just a couple years of its inception, the school had a figure on horseback with a bayonet, confederate flags abound.

1957—2 years after Rebel Without a Cause this is the cover of the yearbook.

And it’s not like it was just this man on a horse who looks to have been active half a century before moving pictures—the confederate flag shows up and sticks around. Here’s 1975:

Who you gonna believe, the Boone County School Board or your lying eyes?

For more on the reality of the 1950s and the blatant resistance to desegregation, we spoke with a professor of 1950s cinema, and a professor of history specifically for Black folks post-civil-war. I could go on and on about how proud I am of these episodes, but I really do think you have to give it a listen.

Frankly, I’m begging. This is the best work I’ve ever made, and I really think if you have a pile of laundry to fold, a knot to untie, or dishes to wash/put away, this will be a great companion.

Class is in session. See you next week!

A